Internal security is a frequently talked about and yet poorly understood thing. Surely, there must be some serious problems if the nation is spending a frightening amount, about one-fourth of the defence budget, on internal security. But what exactly they are, nobody seems to know. The people must understand and decide for themselves as to who really is a more serious threat to internal security-the Kashmiri who shouts at the top of his voice that he wants independence from India and shoots at us; the naxal who wants mining to be stopped in jungles and shoots at us; the Naga who wants independence from India and shoots at us; or the Muslim young man who wants to take revenge for some real or imaginary persecution and explodes a bomb in the market? This book analyzes all the possible threats to internal security-the Kashmir problem, Islamic terrorism, Lashkar-e-Taiyybah, Al Qaida, SIMI, Indian Mujahideen, HUJI, naxals, Khalistan supporters, and the north-eastern insurgent groups.
It also points out that the threat to internal security is often distorted because there are many vested interests involved. Organizations have their departmental interests-more funds, more powers, and staying relevant. Companies have a vested interest in selling useless gadgets to the police forces because there are thousands of crores of rupees to be spent in the name of modernization and internal security. This book shows that imaginary threats are being pursued whereas some real threats remain unaddressed.
This book presents a comprehensive study of what exactly should be understood by internal security both in terms of political theory as well as a legal perspective; what are the actual concerns of internal security; how the measures to maintain internal security must be addressed in a legally valid framework; and what are the legal issues involved in counterinsurgency operations. The purpose of this book is to address those ‘actual concerns’ which need to be addressed if we want to really address them. |
